MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

4/19 Thursday morning quarterback

In the sixth inning Wednesday, the Marlins had a runner at second when Donnie Murphy blooped a ball into shallow left. Alfonso Soriano fielded the ball, but didn’t throw it quickly back into the infield. Murphy hustled to second and got a double from what should’ve been a single.

“It was [Murphy’s] hustle but we could’ve done a lot of things differently,” Dale Sveum said. “We have to get the ball and get the ball to second base. ‘Sori’ knows that and he knows he made a mistake and took something for granted there.”

Murphy eventually scored on a sacrifice fly, part of a three-run inning in the Marlins’ 9-1 win over the Cubs.

Marlins Park is huge and provides hitters plenty of chances for doubles and triples. It’s not good to give one away.

“There have been a few hiccups you’d like to have back but the bottom line is when our starting pitching is pitching that good and keeping us in ballgames, we have to be able to keep ourselves in ballgames and score runs,” Sveum said. “If that’s as bad as [Matt] Garza is going to be, giving up five runs in 5 1/3 or whatever it was, it’d be nice to have three runs and be 5-3. We’ve got to find a way to score some runs.”

– Carrie Muskat

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3 Comments

Finding a way to score runs is not necessarily paramount at this point in the “culture makeover”. What is paramount is finding a way to put in place and nurture a SOLID fielding and hitting team for the future. Trotting out players such as Soriano, Byrd, DeJesus, Soto, Stewart on a daily basis while the more promising, exciting players toil at AAA seems to be counterproductive AND EXPENSIVE so I don’t see how this current roster justifies either a rebuilding or a cost saving approach. Now, nothing could have been done with Soriano’s wasted paychecks but did Hoystein really need to add Stewart’s and DeJesus’s payroll when the same results (or better???) could have been acheived with the likes of Colvin in RF and LeMehui (I know…spelling!) at 3B? Couldn’t Wells have filled Maholm’s rotation spot? I don’t know guys….the jury is still out on Hoystein but wouldn’t we fans accept and or tolerate such a dismal record if we knew it was a bunch of promising kids gelling together for next season and 2014 rather than re-treads keeping positions warm? Who would have railed against a 2012 roster like: C=Clevinger/Castillo (Soto if he couldn’t be dealt) 1B=LaHair/Rizzo 2B=Barney SS=Castro 3B=Vitters/LeMehue (I know…spelling!) LF=Anybody/Soriano (if they couldn’t stand releasing him) CF=Campana RF=Jackson. Maybe they should have given us fans more credit for accepting a team of rookies and we could have finally found out what these kids (like Vitters for example) can do in the majors. Find out, sink or swim, keep em or cut em and THEN move on. It sounds like I’ve given up on Hoystein already? Eh, not really, just frustrated when I see the likes of Baker at 1B and Campana stuck in AAA I guess. Oh boy, this will be a loooong season, especially if Sveum struggles with a regular lineup just like his predecessors.

Normally, I find your comments to be pretty insightful and well thought out; but, on this one, I have to disagree.

I actually really like the deals that players like DeJesus, Stewart and Maholm signed. All three are players who have great potential. Stewart, for instance, looked like an absolute stud just a few years ago but ran into injury problems and lost playing time when the Rockies found a new youngster to fill his shoes. The deal he signed is very advantageous for the Cubs, as it lets us have him for multiple years if he can return to form; if not, we can be out in one year. Maholm’s deal also has an optional second year. As a lefty who showed some signs of good things in Pittsburgh, he could be a great 3rd starter if he can put it all together.

I LOVE Campy, but he needs to learn to get on base more before he can leadoff in the bigs. It’s a safer environment learning that in AAA, there’s less pressure and he knows what he has to do. Jackson, Vitters and Rizzo all need more polishing. The players we are using in their spots now aren’t costing us a ton (Byrd is already locked up through the year and has low trade value, so why not just let him hold the spot for now?) Next year, the payroll will grow even more flexible and Hoystein will be able to either spend more on the major league roster or put that cash into the farm.

I’m still excited for this season because I love seeing Samardzija fight for his spot in the rotation, Castro and Barney continuing to develop up the middle and seeing Clevenger fight his way into the lineup more often. This team has several bright spots for a group that I don’t expect to win more than 70 games.

mbeemsterboer, if you are referring to me…comparing the players that were brought in and the money spent on their mediocrity vs. the players that were already here, available and considerably less expensive I think the more prudent thing would have been to COMPLETLEY COMMIT TO THE FUTURE, not go down the same old path trotting out some “major leaguers” here and there as if we Cubs fanse will buy into the players worth/value because OTHER teams made them “major leaguers”. The money saved while playing mostly, if not all rookies in 2012 could have and should have been saved to be spent in 2013 or 2014 on some much higher caliber free agents to compliment the vetted talent this season. However, what are we discovering about this roster? That BAKER can hit a lefty once in a while, that Stewart is not an invalid, that DeJesus is not any better than Colvin, that Maholm may not be any better than Wells, that DeWitt IS STILL DEWITT, that Soriano can surprisingly improve his defense and go from awful to below average….
I do apprecitate your thoughts about my commenting and completely agree with you regarding Samardzija and Clevinger, those two, LaHair and possibly Castro are the only players that get our attention. The rest of the roster is one big yawn and when I see Baker at 1B and DeWitt ANYWHERE it’s a let down. Campana? He doesn’t have to improve at all to be a better roster spot than DeWitt. As he is he would be more valuable, more exiciting and more fun to watch than any outfielder on the current roster. So far Hoystein made a good move getting Rizzo, trading Zambrano (even if Volstad needs more time) and letting Ramirez go (in order to save dough, right?)…might as well have saved even more dough by not signing DeJesus/Stewart??? Just wondering, they both may yet prove some value and be bargains but we’re burnin’ daylight already…..

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